RITD-Individual Contractor- Staff Assistant - AfCFTA-anchored Pharmaceutical Initiative

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Overview

Provide office management and administrative support under minimal supervision.

You have:

• High school diploma or equivalent
• A minimum of 5 years of experience in general office support or related area
• Fluency in oral and written English and French are required
• Knowledge of UMOJA and INSPIRA are desirable

Result of Service Provides the full range of office management and administrative support at unit level, working under minimal supervision. Effectively tracks, monitors and provides quality control of key deliverables. Effectively organizes and manages records and data. Discretely handles confidential material/matters. Appropriately applies relevant policies, guidelines, procedures and processes. Establishes effective working relationships with internal and external contacts at all levels.

Work Location Addis Ababa

Expected duration This recruitment will be for a period of 3 (three) months upon signature of contract.

Duties and Responsibilities Organizational Settings and Reporting:

Under the direct supervision of the Chief of Section of the Regional Integration Section, and the overall guidance of the Director of the Regional Integration and Trade Division (RITD) the individual contractor/staff assistant will have the responsibility to undertake the following:

I. Background

The advent of the African Continental Free Area (AfCFTA), its coming into force effectively on 30 May 2019 and entering into an operational phase on 7 July 2019, at an African Union (AU) summit in Niger marks momentous milestone for economic integration of Africa. The AfCFTA brings on board a market of 1.3 Billion people, a gross domestic product (GDP) of $2.5 trillion, across 55 member states of the AU. The AfCTA-anchored African single market changes the economics on the ground and makes the case for significant investment in manufacturing across the continent in particular the health sector as an input to inclusive and sustainable development, promotion of value addition and income generation, job creation to cater for the youth bulge, technological and knowledge spill overs. The Agreement provides an appropriate sectoral approach to advocate for healthcare and wellness sectors, and more specifically the pharmaceutical sector. The healthcare and wellness sector, which is projected to be worth $259 billion by 2030 is said to have a potential to create 16 million jobs. If we single out the pharmaceuticals sub-sector alone, the industry is one of the world’s fastest growing. In the past ten years, the market has exploded to US$ 21 Billion, with project estimate of US$60 Billion by the end of 2020.

In its role as the only UN agency mandated to operate at the regional and sub regional levels to harness resources and bring them to bear on Africa's priorities, and in line with its mission to deliver ideas and actions for an empowered and transformed Africa; informed by the 2030 Agenda and Agenda 2063; the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), proposes to leverage its three core functions, namely, its convening function, its function as a think tank and its operational function to convene the relevant partners, provide the platform, networks and analysis to leverage opportunities of the AfCFTA in the pharmaceutical sector across the continent. ECA, its various efforts to advance the SDGs and Agenda 2063, has been involved in identifying key leadership commitments, interests and the economic justification for such an engagement. Indeed, in 2018, UNECA commissioned a report titled “Review of Policies and Strategies for the Pharmaceutical Production Sector in Africa: Policy coherence, best practices and future prospective”. The policy recommendations emanating from report informed the 2019 Africa Business Forum which was convened on the margins of African Union Summit on 12 February 2019. The Forum’s objective was to facilitate and consolidate a regional partnership between private and public sector for the purposes of advancing health outcomes and shape health markets in Africa to spur improved health and wellbeing of its people and economy and free up the fiscal space of the African Governments in light of rising fiscal debts within the region. The Forum culminated with the launch of African Business Coalition for Health (ABCHealth), an African led coalition that mobilizes a core group of private sector champions to advance health outcomes and shape health markets in Africa.

Following the launch of ABCHealth, the ECA convened an AfCFTA Regional Forum for the Horn of Africa on the theme of: “AfCFTA Ratification and Implementation: Breaking Down Geographical, Logistical and Regulatory Barriers to Trade and Investment in the Horn to Boost Industrialization – A Focus on the Pharmaceutical Industry” in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 23-24 May 2019. As part of its mandate to deliver on Agenda 2063, the SDGs and operationalization of the AfCFTA by translating ideas into action and in line with its commitment that private sector and public sector dialogue yields tangible outcomes, the ECA went on to conceptualize an AfCFTA-anchored Pharmaceutical Project and joined forces with its partners AUC, IGAD and selected Small Islands States represented by Seychelles to roll it out.

Presently, Africa manufactures less than 2 per cent of the medicines it consumes while it imports about 70 per cent of its needs from outside the continent at an annual cost of $14.5 billion. Worse still, is that several African countries import sub-standard or poor quality medicines and some of the smaller Africa economies pay premium prices to source their pharmaceuticals owing to their weakened bargaining position with large, well-resourced and dominant international pharmaceutical companies. The Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Plan for Africa (PMPA) that was adopted by the AU Assembly back in 2007 observed: “a market size that would ensure sustainability as well as technical and financial viability was considered imperative.” Thanks to the AfCFTA, Africa is now in a position to say market size is no longer an issue for pharmaceutical manufacturers to engage in areas such as the local production of generic medicines on the continent or pooled procurement of medicines.

In developing this scalable and sustainable reproductive pharmaceutical framework of action, the African Continental Free Trade Area is a potential game changer. The pilot initiative proposes to focus on localized production, pooled procurement and a harmonized regulatory and quality framework. The initiative, anchored in AfCFTA principles, is expected to contribute to improved and economically sustainable access to safe and affordable medicines through localized manufacturing and pooled procurement. Particular focus will be on select pharmaceutical products for the improvement of reproductive and child health. Utilizing a “three-strand approach” the Initiative is set up to manage pooled procurement of pharmaceutical products on the continent, facilitate local production and to ensure a sustainable safeguard of quality standards of medicines and products. The Initiative will be commissioned and piloted in select African countries. The countries include the Comoros, Djibouti, Eritrea, Madagascar, Mauritius, Rwanda, Seychelles and anchored by Ethiopia, Kenya, Sudan and with the involvement of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD). The country selection for this initiative emanated from a recent business forum on the pharmaceutical industry in the Horn of Africa . IGAD was selected to participate as the regional economic community, in view of its ongoing health initiatives, which complements the proposed pilot project. Upon completion of the pilot phase and track record has been established., there is already interest in scaling up of the initiative to the continental level.

The decision to focus on maternal and child health-care products was informed by high maternal and infant mortality ratio in Africa as well as huge unmet needs for family planning and other reproductive health commodities The maternal and child health burden remains relatively high in the selected region while across the continent, the challenges relating to maternal and infant mortality persist, particularly in respect of achieving targets of key indicators. In connection to the above, there other existing difficulties such as the lack of preventive immunization measures and vaccines.

The predicted positive impact will be reflected in an increased intra-African trade in pharmaceuticals with a decrease of 25 per cent in imports by year two after implementation of the Initiative, and more affordable medicines with an estimated cost drop of 25 per cent by year three and the creation of the needed fiscal space in an era of rising government debts. The intended macro improvements are complemented by social gains in significant job creation and increases in women’s productivity. This health and economic initiative, which maximizes the benefits brought about by the AfCFTA, embodies great opportunities to change lives, reduce poverty and contribute to inclusive and sustainable economic development.

II. Overall Objectives

AfCFTA-anchored Pharmaceutical Initiative aims at addressing economic-related challenges facing African member countries relating to high costs of medicines and promote the creation of fiscal space to the African Governments given the emerging trend of rising government debts. The AfCFTA, by virtue of the expanded market opportunities it offers and the potential to create manufacturing hubs, can be a game changer in the fight against life threatening diseases, especially given the continent’s high disease burden and concerns of rising governments debts. By pooling countries demand together, the Agreement can facilitate the bringing down of cost of medicines to African consumers and improve wellbeing on Africa people and their economy.

Given the pivotal role investments in health plays as input in achieving sustainable and inclusive economic growth, the Commission hopes to develop a framework of action to advance health outcomes and shape health markets in Africa. ECA proposes to: (i) Leverage the AfCFTA in facilitating regional pooled procurement of maternal and child health essential medicines and commodities (ii) Facilitation and advocacy from the policy angle local production of maternal and child health essential medicines and commodities (ii) Assurance of quality standards of maternal and child health essential medicines and commodities.

III. Duties and responsibilities:

• Perform a wide range of office support and administrative functions, duties and processes, including draft responses to routine correspondence, notes, and any other routine communications, as required;
• Use standard word processing package to produce a variety of routing correspondence, reports, tables charts, graphs required for events mentioned above;
• Maintain files and databases, including by managing individual case files, ensuring that all related correspondence and other documentation are appropriately filed, registered, and followed up;
• Research, compile and organize information and reference materials from various sources for reports, work plans, studies, briefings, meetings/conferences, etc;
• Assist in processing consultancy recruitment related assignments related to the AfCFTA-anchored Pharmaceutical Initiative project (including processing consultants’ contracts from building JO to finalizing contracts and all follow up actions, processing consultants’ remuneration, travel requests, preparing travel claims, requests for office supplies and equipment, etc.);
• Provides secretarial, administrative and logistics support to meetings, boards, committees, conferences, etc. for RITD in general and AfCFTA-anchored Pharma Initiative Project in particular (including organizing special knowledge delivery events around the project, liaising with service sections within ECA (Conference Section, Travel, etc.) in support of the implementation of these project, initiating contacts with targeted experts for knowledge delivery activities and events and facilitate their travel and participation, maintaining electronic participation list at special knowledge delivery events and updating and disseminating lists of participants; documents, reports and other materials, where possible using electronic formats or coordinating courier services;
• Follow up on impending actions and deadlines. Perform basics data entry and extraction functions;
• Operate and maintain a variety of office equipment in the performance of basic office functions;
• Deliver urgent mail/messages;
• Maintains calendar/schedules; monitors changes and communicate relevant information to appropriate staff inside and outside the immediate work unit;
• Performs a variety of administrative duties (e.g. leave recording, meeting organization, reservations, office supply and equipment orders, etc.), including preparing and/or processing administrative requests/documents (e.g., travel requests, expense claims, vouchers, visa applications, etc.);
• Maintains files (both paper and electronic) and databases for work unit;

• Perform other administrative duties for the Division as assigned.

  Qualifications/special skills Academic Qualifications: High school diploma or equivalent Experience: A minimum of 5 years of experience in general office support or related area; UMOJA and INSPIRA knowledge are desirable. Language: English and French are the working languages of the United Nations Secretariat. For the post advertised, fluency in oral and written English and French are required. Knowledge of another official United Nations language is an advantage.

  No Fee THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CHARGE A FEE AT ANY STAGE OF THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS (APPLICATION, INTERVIEW MEETING, PROCESSING, OR TRAINING). THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CONCERN ITSELF WITH INFORMATION ON APPLICANTS’ BANK ACCOUNTS.

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Added 4 years ago - Updated 1 year ago - Source: careers.un.org